Still perfect

Monday

Oct 28, 2013 at 10:31 AM

Truman State remained unbeaten in GLVC play with a 27-7 win over Missouri S&T

Ryan Ronan @RyanRonan_KDE

KIRKSVILLE – It is said that quarterback play is the most important part of a football team’s success. Well on Saturday afternoon Truman State tried three different QBs before they found a way to get into the end zone. The Bulldogs ran off 27 straight points in a 27-7 win over Missouri S&T.

The Bulldogs offense struggled throughout the first 40 minutes as the Miners’ defense was able to hold in check Conrad Schottel, Bo Bell, and DeVonte Black who all took multiple snaps during the first three quarters.

With just over eight minutes left in the third Truman took over at their own 35-yard line trailing 7-6. The Bulldogs hadn’t had a first down since the six-minute mark of the second quarter. That changed, as Schottel found Chico Orlando on a crossing route gaining 11 yards on third and one. Feeling the momentum gained from that play the Bulldogs went into attack mode. On first down Truman ran a reverse that ended with the ball in the hands of Kurt Lloyd who picked up 29 yards on the play, the biggest gainer of the day for the Bulldogs’ offense. On second and nine, Schottel scrambled out and was able to take the ball inside the Miners’ five-yard line, setting up first and goal. Wasting no time Schottel found Dahn Kemp for a three-yard touchdown pass on first down and Truman had their first lead at 13-7.

“Bo and DeVonte came in and were able to give us a lift running the ball, they are a little more fleet of foot than I am, so I don’t think bringing those guys in it hurt our offense at all, in fact it helped us out. It was just a great team win today,” said Schottel.

The score by the Bulldogs ended an ugly stretch by the two teams to start the second half, a half that began with the Miners fumbling the opening kickoff. Truman then proceeded to give the ball right back when they fumbled four plays later. That fumble was the last snap by a quarterback other than Schottel.

The Miners then picked up two first downs and fumbled right back to the Bulldogs. Truman went three and out and capped the drive with an 18-yard punt. The Bulldogs’ defense stiffened as it did for the majority of the afternoon as they forced a Miner punt after three plays, setting up the score.

That score got the Bulldogs rolling. On the ensuing Miners possession they punted on fourth and one and didn’t know it at the time, but kicked away their hopes of winning. On the first play following the punt, Garrett White ripped off a 79-yard touchdown off a read option, a play ran by Schottel, but set up by Bell and Black.

“Their structure of defense was to come out and run a bear front (five defensive linemen) and we countered that with by using the quarterback run plays. I thought it gave us some things. The long run by Garrett was set up by the quarterback run plays in the first half. So overall I think it helped us,” said Truman State head coach Gregg Nesbitt.

The White touchdown made it 20-7 Bulldogs. After not picking up a first down for nearly a full quarter, the Truman offense made it three straight touchdowns when they cashed in their next drive for six. This time Schottel snuck his way into the end zone as he scored from one-yard out. The Derek Koon extra point gave Truman the 27-7 score that they went on to win by.

Schottel’s comment of Saturday’s victory being a “team win” carried over to the defense as well. The Miners took their second possession of the game and ran it in for the 7-0 lead. The Bulldog offense was only able to score on two Koon field goals for almost the next two quarters. In that time the defense allowed S&T to only pick up two first downs, in fact they only gave up five first downs for the rest of the game.

“They gained a lot of confidence over the last month. They are playing with that confidence and tackling pretty decently, we missed a couple today, but they did a great job,” said Nesbitt.

Truman held S&T to just 222 yards of offense, they came in averaging over 400 a game. They also came in the leaders in time of possession in the GLVC. Truman had the ball for nearly eight more minutes than the Miners did. In fairness to S&T they were playing with their back-up quarterback who was making his first career start.

With the win the Bulldogs have rattled off four straight wins and are now 6-2 on the season and 4-0 in the GLVC. They are currently tied for first place with No. 18 Indianapolis, a team the Bulldogs close out the season against. Before Truman can play UI, they travel to play Kentucky Wesleyan. The Panthers and Bulldogs have never met before and it will be a game between the top and bottom teams in the GLVC. KWC is winless and are coming off a 52-0 loss to the afore mentioned Greyhounds.